Whitehorse will have a curling season after all.

Mark Evans, the Whitehorse Curling Club's president, said Tuesday council's decision Monday to go ahead with a one-year lease agreement for the club to use the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre for $35,000 for the year means a 2012/2013 curling season will happen.

The club had turned down a suggested 10-year lease term with the city that would have seen annual rates hiked to $63,929 by the final year of the agreement from $30,000 in year one. The plan was part of the city's policy to recoup 50 per cent of the operational costs on its buildings.

Evans and others involved in curling told council the club couldn't afford it. They warned the organization would likely see a drop in members if its fees were hiked to come in line with the proposed lease.

"There was just an impasse,” Evans said Tuesday.

In a presentation to council last week, Evans also pointed out most of the correspondence between the city and curling club had been through email.

He was pleased, he said, when after that council meeting, city manager Stan Westby and operations director Brian Crist called for a "face-to-face” meeting with club representatives.

He and club business manager Matt Bustin attended the session, where they came up with the one-year agreement.

Along with the $35,000 a year rate for the curling club's portion of the building, the city will also get 40 free hours of Grey Mountain Room (part of the club's leased area) use during the year.

Bringing it back to their respective sides, Evans said the curling club board directed him to sign off on it provided council gave its staff the same direction.

Not only did the meeting serve as an avenue to come up with a lease, but Evans also commented it "went a long way” to help the relationship between the club and city.

The one-year term will give the city and club the time it needs to come up with a longer-term arrangement, Evans said, noting that while no meetings are scheduled to discuss that, he expects they will soon begin working on it.

"I don't want to be at this 11th hour (deadline),” he said of the next lease for the group.

Though discussion about the lease among council members was short on Monday evening, they were quick to praise both city staff and the club representatives for coming up with the new agreement.

Coun. Kirk Cameron was the first to speak, noting his congratulations to city staff on working out the lease.

Westby responded with praise for the work the curling club put into the agreement.

"It takes two to tango,” he said as Coun. Florence Roberts went on to note the "admirable job” done by both sides.

Now there are 12 months to work out a longer arrangement, she noted.

Coun. Ranj Pillai then added his thoughts, finally thanking both Crist and Westby.

Westby, he noted, set the tone for such negotiations within the first 30 days of becoming the new city manager.

With that, council was unanimous in voting for the lease to go forward, then passed second and third readings of the bylaw for the lease.

It also voted in favour of the final reading for the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club to lease the portion of the recreation centre it uses.

The ski club hasn't taken any issue with the 10-year term that will see its rates rise from $27,790 this year to $36,260 in the final year of the lease.